A Victoria Cross Doesn’t Keep the Flour Sack Full

John Chipman "Chip" Kerr (Grande Prairie Herald, Historical Edition ~1934)
John Chipman “Chip” Kerr (Grande Prairie Herald, Historical Edition ~1934)

There are several articles about John “Chip” Kerr of Spirit River, who won the Victoria Cross in World War I.  This is the first one I saw some time ago, and of course wound up doing more digging until I found his story.  I especially like this item; he certainly had a sense of humor.  He served again in World War II, becoming a service policeman at Sea Island in BC.  He retired in Port Moody, where there is a Legion Auditorium and a park named for him, and his home was declared a Heritage Site.  There is also a mountain in Alberta named after him.  It is splendid that ten years after the war when he was invited to London for an Armistice Dinner with the Prince of Wales, there was so much support to enable him and his wife to make the trip.

Some material from an account by Al Sholund on the Port Moody website

Researched & written by Kathryn Auger

Grande Prairie Herald ~ November 1, 1929
Grande Prairie Herald ~ November 1, 1929

 

Share this post